Confidence measures showed substantial gains over a four-week period
From the doldrums of the latter part of 2022, Canadian consumers are becoming increasingly confident about their economic and financial prospects, according to new polling by Bloomberg and Nanos Research.
The Bloomberg-Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, which measures consumers’ financial health and economic expectations on a weekly basis, registered at 51.50 during the week ending April 28.
This was markedly higher than the 48.77 level seen four weeks prior, although it was still below the current 12-month high of 56.65.
“After a prolonged negative cycle of weakened consumer confidence, the upward trend has now moved into positive territory with a score greater than 50 points on the diffusion index that makes up the Bloomberg-Nanos tracking,” said chief data scientist Nik Nanos.
The share of Canadians anticipating a stronger national economy in the next six months improved on a weekly basis from 15.41% to 15.48%, although nearly half of respondents (45.39%) are still expecting weaker performance and almost one-third (32.34%) believes that the economy will remain stagnant during this period.
The share of respondents looking forward to an increase in home prices in their neighbourhoods over the next half-year substantially improved from 33.43% to 37.19% last week. Two in five Canadians (41.17%) are anticipating steady prices, while 17.67% are bracing for price declines.
